What started as a neck-and-neck battle turned into a clean victory for hockey brothers Bates and Anthony on The Amazing Race 22 finale. After arriving to the spy Roadblock in Washington, D.C., second, they completed it first and never relinquished their lead — even leaving the final task before any other team had gotten there. "We knew we were first," Bates tells TVGuide.com. "And that's an awesome feeling to have on the last leg, knowing that you're going to win." So what are they going to do with their $1 million? And what's really going on between them and Caroline and Jennifer? Find out below.

Congratulations! How confident were you that you were going to win? You didn't even see anyone else after the spy task.Bates: Yeah, we were pretty pumped up. We knew what we were doing. The cabbie was great. He knew where everything was, so we were confident we'd be first.

The spy task and the globes task were both needle-in-the-haystack challenges. Do you think you got lucky finding your spy first?Bates: I think we got lucky with everything. I ran into the right guy. It happened pretty quickly and I saw that Max was still doing it.Anthony: It was kind of like in Bora Bora. Bates got lucky there and found the right sandcastle with the clue. He went to the right spy and it worked out. And we got lucky with our cabbie. We didn't get lost at all and we all know [cabbie luck] can do you in in the final even if you are good at the challenges. ... [In the globes challenge] we knew exactly what we were looking for. We wrote everything down and we studied it all. I was in there rattling balls. We love balls! I figured it out pretty quickly.

Do you know how far ahead of Max and Katie you were?Bates: We don't know the exact time, but we knew we were pretty ahead of them.

You were the favorites the whole season. Were you worried about getting U-Turned or your alliance turning on you? Are you surprised no one did?Bates: Definitely. Honestly, going into the final leg, we were like, "How are we here? We made a mistake somewhere." [Laughs] It seemed too good to be true. We were prepared to be U-Turned somewhere, but no one did it.Anthony: We probably should've U-Turned Max and Katie because they were on a hot streak, but we were in an alliance with them and we're friends, so we didn't. We almost beat them the past few legs, but we won the one that matters. ... We were dogging it 'til the end! [Laughs]

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You guys were chill the whole time until the Titanic meal Roadblock, which was probably your worst moment.Anthony: Oh, yeah! Bates was really, really mad at me. What color is chartreuse? You tell me right now. I've been asking you the past three days and you still don't know and you're mad that I didn't know.Bates: I still don't know. But me and Leonardo DiCaprio have so much in common now. We're so tight now.Anthony: Yeah, you're the king of the world, right? But you don't know what chartreuse is.

How much time did you spend there?Bates: Too f---ing long! [Laughs] Dumb-Dumb here couldn't the f--- figure out what color chartreuse was.Anthony: First of all, watch your language. Second of all, I figured it out and we came in second by two seconds. We're going to fight right now!

Fight after this. Anthony, you also helped Mona and Beth with the menu there. Was that by accident?Anthony: Yeah. Beth and Mona had no idea what was going on. They were all over the map. I kind of helped them out and I didn't mean to. It just came out, but I was being vague. But they did help me out with the chartreuse part. They're girls, so they knew what chartreuse was!

If you hadn't helped them, they might still be there doing it and Caroline and Jen could've probably made the final. What's going on with you guys? Phil told me he thought you guys were flirting too much.Bates: Well, you know, we like to flirt! We were disappointed that they weren't in the final.Anthony: We're very friendly. That's how we do. We're nice people!

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Did you ever figure out who took your bag on the train, Bates?Bates: No, I have no idea. I honestly don't think anyone was paying attention. They should've been.Anthony: I think Caroline and Jen threw it out the train so they could give Bates a thong to wear, but he never wore it.Bates: Like I wouldn't. I would.Anthony: You love thongs.Bates: It's so much more comfortable.

You can buy some with the $1 million. What are you going to with the money? Are you going to get new teeth?Bates: I'm not against the thong idea! [Laughs] I was hoping to buy [Anthony] some teeth, but he doesn't want to now.Anthony: I ain't buying new teeth. It's my staple now. The chicks dig it. No big whoop. Hashtag! [Laughs]

Speaking of appearances, I liked when you fixed up your hair, Bates, when you thought you were meeting Obama.Bates: Well, you know, I had to clean it up. It was my hockey hair. It's gone now.Anthony: When we do our next show, he's got to be clean-cut. I needed him to be presentable. It's going to be Hockey Brothers Do America! [Laughs]

In thongs?Bates: [Laughs] Yeah! We're bringing the thunder to all of America!

Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia were crowned champions of The Amazing Race's 22nd season during Sunday night's two-hour broadcast of the CBS reality competition's finale.

The "Hockey Brothers" team was the first team to cross the 22nd season of The Amazing Race's finish line in Washington D.C., claiming the $1 million grand prize.

"Newlyweds" Max Bichler and Katie Bichler finished second, while "Roller Derby Moms" Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere finished the Race in third place. "Friends and Country Singers" Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle were eliminated in fourth place just before the final leg.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Bates and Anthony talked about their The Amazing Race experience and victory. Below is the first half of their interview. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion and more interviews with the Final 4 teams.

Reality TV World: Congratulations on your big win you two. So what do you guys plan to do with the money?

Reality TV World: Getting into the final Pit Stop, how far ahead of Max and Katie do you think you arrived when you won the Race?

Bates Battaglia: Well, we brought the thunder, so I'm pretty sure we were quite a bit ahead of them.

Anthony Battaglia: But it wasn't until the one Roadblock where Bates got the guy that gave him the briefcase and he pulled ahead. That's where we kept going. (Laughs) Yeah, it was right after the briefcase when we were good to go.

Reality TV World: How about a time frame? Did you get to the Pit Stop like 20 minutes ahead of Max and Katie or something like that?

Bates Battaglia: Oh, we got there at the same time! But I pulled a pretty sweet maneuver where I ran ahead and definitely pulled something out.

Anthony Battaglia: (Laughs)

Reality TV World: How confident were you leaving that final globe task that you were going to win? Did you think it was possible another team could caught up to you or were you just trying to not get too excited at that point?

Bates Battaglia: Yeah.

Anthony Battaglia: We thought we were in first. We kind of knew we were in first and we were on our way going in the cab and we're like, "Man, if we do something wrong..." We thought we were going to like pull up to the mat and [The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan] was going to be like, "You did something wrong," or something like that. Because that's how we felt the whole time, but, you know.

Bates Battaglia: Yeah, we knew we were ahead, but we were still -- at the same time -- we were pretty nervous. We felt that it was too good to be true the whole time.

Anthony Battaglia: We always read the directions and were like, "Oh man, we did something wrong. We did something wrong." But it obviously worked out in the end.

Reality TV World: The show made it seem like you guys did get lost for a little bit on your way to the final Pit Stop -- or at least you feared getting lost because you knew you had a lot to lose. So just to clarify, it sounds like you didn't get lost?

Bates Battaglia: Surprisingly, considering how everything went during the whole Race, surprisingly, we actually found our way for the first time pretty well.

Anthony Battaglia: We had the best cab driver the entire race. His name was Tony and we wanted to pay him every dollar we had in our pockets.

Bates Battaglia: Yeah, he was pretty legit.

Anthony Battaglia: Yeah, he was the best cab driver we had the entire race, and I think he was a factor. He was a factor in our win.

Bates Battaglia: A factor. (Laughs)

Anthony Battaglia: Yeah, I think pretty much he won the Race for us, this last leg.

Reality TV World: Bates, during last night's show, you mentioned you spent some time in Washington D.C., so sounds like you had a home court advantage there. I know you played for the Capitals for a bit, but how long exactly did you live in D.C. for, and would you say your knowledge of the area did actually assist in how you two ran that leg?

Bates Battaglia: Maybe a little bit. I did play there for about a year, but I didn't know the area that well. But at the same time, it definitely didn't hurt.

Anthony Battaglia: But he's a dipsh-t. So, that's always a factor, because Bates is really a big dipsh-t. And you can quote me on that! You can quote me on that.

Reality TV World: You guys obviously struggled with the Titanic dinner service task. It seemed like Anthony, you just weren't handing out the correct dishes to the guests, and Bates, you simply seemed exhausted from running back and forth. Could you explain what happened there? Where did the confusion come in and how did you determine which mistakes needed correcting?

Anthony Battaglia: I'm just saying! So we had to figure out what color is chartreuse, and this guy, I asked him. I was like, "What color is chartreuse? Is it red or is it green?" And he wouldn't tell me, so.

Bates Battaglia: I don't know!

Anthony Battaglia: So I picked red because I thought that's what it was. And ding-dong over here didn't help me out and then he went running for...

Bates Battaglia: Because I was doing the hard part. I was running.

Anthony Battaglia: Yes well, he didn't help.

Bates Battaglia: It was an ass-kicker.

Anthony Battaglia: You gotta help a brother out!

Bates Battaglia: Well.

Anthony Battaglia: Now we know what color chartreuse is -- at least I know. I asked you [Bates] last night and you still don't know.

Bates Battaglia: I still don't know what color that is.

Anthony Battaglia: We haven't talked about it until this day because this guy is so mad at me still about it.

Reality TV World: (Laughs) How long would you say it took you to complete that Detour task, any idea?

Bates Battaglia: Way too frickin' long. I'll tell you why. I ran up and down those stairs probably -- I'm going to say 10-15 times.

Anthony Battaglia: Well I'm going to say you needed to lose a little weight, so I made you do it on purpose. He's fat. He's a fatty! He eats a lot.

Bates Battaglia: This kid. What a jerk.

Anthony Battaglia: (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Okay. (Laughs) Bates, thinking back to that spy Roadblock task with the briefcases, how long do you think that took you and what was your reaction watching Max struggle with it during last night's episode? It seemed like he just simply ran out of luck at that point.

Bates Battaglia: Yeah, that was pretty, I don't know, that was luck of the draw there. Because I honestly got away with that pretty good. I had no idea that it took him that long.

Anthony Battaglia: We had luck on our side just like the sandcastles [in a previous leg].

Bates Battaglia: Yeah, it was kind of like the sandcastles.

Anthony Battaglia: I mean, the whole race, it's a lot of skill and this and that, but I mean, right there, there was a lot of luck involved. And that's how we won the whole thing, right there.

Bates Battaglia: Yeah, it was pretty lucky. I just grabbed the right guy and boom!

Above is the first half of our exclusive interview with Bates and Anthony. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion and more interviews with the Final 4 teams.

Hockey players and brothers Bates and Anthony Battaglia were a force to be reckoned with this season on The Amazing Race. They were in the top three on 9 of the 12 legs, and crossed the finish line first on Sunday night's finale. The pair won a million dollars and were understandably still giddy when they talked to RealityWanted today about their victory.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: First of all, congratulation on winning The Amazing Race. What did you guys do last night to celebrate?A. Bates: We drank heavily!A. Anthony: We had champagne and Gatorade poured over our heads. We're athletes!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You worked very well with Caroline and Jen this season, and they kept some of the attention off of you when it came to other teams looking to U-Turn you. Tell us a little more about your partnership.A. Anthony: We helped each other out and we just wanted them in front of us so we could see their asses. That's totally true.A. Bates: He's completely right.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You ran such a great race and really only struggled on the 4th leg. What was your biggest issue in Bali?A. Anthony: It was tough because the things that hurt us the most were out of control, like bad taxi drivers and monkeys that wouldn't eat coconut.A. Bates: That Bali trip was tough!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you feel the last leg was, in terms of difficulty?A. Bates: I mean, it wasn't super hard. It wasn't the easiest, but we kinda got lucky with the briefcase challenge and we pulled ahead of everybody.A. Anthony: 'Cause we're pretty awesome!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: As you were running towards the finish line, were you a hundred percent certain you had won?A. Bates: No, not really. When we were running up there, we thought, "We must've done something wrong!" We saw Phil's eyebrows and we thought he'd say we did something wrong and had a two hour penalty.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: If there was another All Star edition, do you think you'd fare just as well as you did this season?A. Anthony: I would think so! We're probably the best team ever!A. Bates: Plus, we're hilarious! I don't wanna toot my own horn, but we're freakin' hilarious!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Besides the obvious part about winning the million, what was the best part about running The Amazing Race?A. Anthony: Honestly, the whole thing was amazing. I know that everybody says it, but it was amazing! It was the most fun... I would do it again in a second. Everything was awesome!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I hear you two would like to travel more, and you want your Twitter fans to get behind you for perhaps another show.A. Bates: Yeah, vote for us! Battaglia and Battaglia Do America.A. Anthony: No, no... it's #HockeyBrothersDoAmerica!

Read what Bates and Anthony said about their time in the game and what their favorite challenge was!

Tara F: Are Bates and Anthony still close with the country girls?Bates: Yeah, we're still good friends. It was nice to have two beautiful girls to hang out with the entire time.Anthony: We still talk & text, and we hope to get together soon.

Carlos B: How did it feel to see all those teams come back at the end to support?Bates: It was pretty cool to see everybody. It was weird seeing the early teams who we didn't know too well.Anthony: it was incredible to see everyone there. It was pretty surreal.

Katherine V: Bates and Anthony, what do you plan to do with the money (besides buy another pair of fake teeth)?Bates: We're still figuring it out.Anthony: I'm not going to buy new teeth since that's what everyone is expecting me to do. Bates has taken me on a few trips in the past so maybe I can take him on one now.

Rhonda C: Bates and Anthony: What was your favorite challenge during the race and what challenge did you find the hardest?Anthony: Our favorite challenge was being able to say we waterskied with crocodiles. That's something that not too many people can say.Bates: I never thought I'd be in Africa. That was amazing.

Jody M: Bates and Anthony, who would you have wanted to win if it hadn't been you?Bates: Caroline & Jen. They were our super-buddies.Anthony: They were our race girlfriends and we are still friends with them.

Diana K: To Bates and Anthony: Did you have any sort of special tactics for doing the race fast and keeping ahead of other teams?Anthony: Just a lot of luck.Bates: We were good at the physical things but when it came to other things like getting flights or directions we did get lucky at times. Caroline and Jen were able to help us with that sometimes.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You worked very well with Caroline and Jen this season, and they kept some of the attention off of you when it came to other teams looking to U-Turn you. Tell us a little more about your partnership.A. Anthony: We helped each other out and we just wanted them in front of us so we could see their asses. That's totally true.A. Bates: He's completely right.

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

You guys were chill the whole time until the Titanic meal Roadblock, which was probably your worst moment.Anthony: Oh, yeah! Bates was really, really mad at me. What color is chartreuse? You tell me right now. I've been asking you the past three days and you still don't know and you're mad that I didn't know.Bates: I still don't know. But me and Leonardo DiCaprio have so much in common now. We're so tight now.Anthony: Yeah, you're the king of the world, right? But you don't know what chartreuse is.

How much time did you spend there?Bates: Too f---ing long! [Laughs] Dumb-Dumb here couldn't the f--- figure out what color chartreuse was.Anthony: First of all, watch your language. Second of all, I figured it out and we came in second by two seconds. We're going to fight right now!

Oh my god. The brothers are hilarious.

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"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You worked very well with Caroline and Jen this season, and they kept some of the attention off of you when it came to other teams looking to U-Turn you. Tell us a little more about your partnership.A. Anthony: We helped each other out and we just wanted them in front of us so we could see their asses. That's totally true.A. Bates: He's completely right.

Bates and Anthony Battaglia have a million dollars to split and countless memories after winning the 22nd edition of CBS television’s “The Amazing Race.” While the competition ended in the middle of December, the finale wasn’t shown until Sunday night as the Battaglias hosted a viewing party at Lucky B’s, the Glenwood South bar co-owned by Bates Battaglia and Mike Lombardo.

The party was spilling over into Monday when the free-spirited Battaglias, called the “Hockey Brothers” on the show, got together for an interview. Bates Battaglia is a former Carolina Hurricanes forward and both played pro hockey, but they said it wasn’t just their athleticism that was decisive in the “Race.”

“Yes, we’re not just good-looking, we’re smart," Bates said. “We’re just friendly people but if we have to beat you in a foot race, we’ll do it.”

“The Amazing Race” is a reality TV show in which two-person teams compete in challenges as they race around the world. Teams are gradually eliminated and the winner is the first to make it to the finish line in the final leg. This season’s race went through Washington.

In the two-hour finale, Bates Battaglia put on the bulky mascot outfit of the Washington Nationals to catch a baseball dropped by Anthony, who was suspended on a zip line high above the field at Nationals Park in Washington. Bates needed just a couple of tries to make the catch. Another team needed 17.

Told that one of the teams referred to them as “old athletes,” Anthony replied, “They did? I didn’t hear that. That’s OK. We’re still extremely good-looking. And we still won.”

Bates Battaglia, 37, helped the Hurricanes reach the Stanley Cup final in 2002. Now retired from hockey, he played in more than 600 NHL regular-season and playoff games.

Anthony, 33, has never made it to the NHL. He played a handful of American Hockey League games but has spent most of his professional career in the ECHL, a step below the AHL. He played for the Huntsville Havoc of SPHL after the “Race” ended.

The “Race” was filmed from mid-November to mid-December, Bates Battaglia said, and everyone was sworn to secrecy as to the outcome and the winners of the $1 million prize. Which, the brother said, also was part of the fun.

“We like teasing people,” Bates Battaglia said. “Like every week I told people we were losing. And they’d come back and say, ‘I thought you won.’ ”

During the Sunday telecast, Bates Battaglia said losing out in the 2002 Cup final to the Detroit Red Wings was one of his biggest disappointments. The Canes won the first game, then dropped the last four to the powerful Wings.

Bates Battaglia said he missed the intense competition of pro hockey – to the point he didn’t attend many Canes games at PNC Arena.

“You sit up there watching all the boys playing and you wish you were out there,” Battaglia said. “It’s tough.”

But the “Race” got his competitive juices flowing as the teams hopscotched around the world.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I said to Anthony, ‘If we ever get a chance to do it again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.’

Bates said the frantic pace of travel seen on the show’s telecasts wasn’t the product of good editing. It’s as fast-paced as it appears, as the teams were in such locales as Vietnam, Switzerland and New Zealand.

“Oh, yeah, nonstop,” he said. “You have no time off in-between. You’re going all the time.

“I lost 20 pounds. I left at 210 pounds and came back 190. It was an experience.”

Battaglia laughed when told he now might be more recognizable for being on the show than as a former NHL player, noting, “I wasn’t exactly a superstar in hockey.”

Battaglia said he now plays for the Lucky B’s men’s league team, saying he mostly “tries to give a lot of passes to the guys.” He did take part in the Canes’ Alumni Game last month at PNC Arena and was back on the ice with former teammates such as Ron Francis and Glen Wesley.

“I loved seeing some of the old guys that I hadn’t seen in a while and getting the chance to get out there,” he said. “A great experience.”

The brothers joked they haven’t decided how to spend the money, although inviting half of Raleigh to the Lucky B’s for a celebratory drink could eat up a few bucks.

They also quipped that they may try to encourage some TV producers to give them their own show.

“It’s ‘Battaglia & Battaglia,’ ” Bates said. “Handsome brothers do America! There will be lots of women and lots of drinking. Print that!”

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You worked very well with Caroline and Jen this season, and they kept some of the attention off of you when it came to other teams looking to U-Turn you. Tell us a little more about your partnership.A. Anthony: We helped each other out and we just wanted them in front of us so we could see their asses. That's totally true.A. Bates: He's completely right.

Phil Keoghan, the host of CBS's "Amazing Race," tells brothers Bates, center, and Huntsville Havoc player Anthony Battaglia they are winners of the 22nd season of the show. The final episode of the show broadcast on May 5, 2013. (Photo courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)Anthony Battaglia had a pretty good few months with the Huntsville Havoc hockey team this past winter. The team almost made the playoffs, and Battaglia felt like he had played pretty well and helped the team along.

What he didn't share with his teammates was that he had just won the "Amazing Race" and $1 million in prize money. He and his hockey-playing brother, Bates, competed against 11 teams, winning the reality show challenge. The race took place in November and December of 2012, but the final, two-hour episode didn't broadcast until May 5.

"I had to keep my mouth shut," Battaglia said about the period between winning and the final broadcast. "For me, it's comparable to winning the Stanley Cup and not being able to tell anyone."

Bates Battaglia had heard the producers of the "Amazing Race" were looking for some hockey players and suggested to his younger brother that they try to get on the show.

"I was 100 percent, absolutely," Anthony Battaglia said from his home in Raleigh, N.C., where he lives when he's not playing hockey. "We're fans of the show, and we're athletes. We thought 'we can definitely win this thing.' We were pretty humbled when we got there. It's a lot harder than it looks."

The teams were pitted against each other as they took part in challenges as diverse as bog snorkeling in Ireland to water skiing in crocodile-invested waters in Africa. The final leg of the race brought the last three teams to Washington D.C., where their final task involved the ball pit at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.

"There's not much rest or down time" during the race, Battaglia said. "It's pretty hectic and grueling on the body. But we're kind of used to that, my brother and me" from their years of playing hockey.

Anthony Battaglia (26) played hockey in the Southern Professional Hockey League 2012-2013 season with the Huntsville Havoc. He and his brother, Bates Battaglia, competed in and won the 22nd season of The Amazing Race.

While Bates Battaglia is now retired from hockey after a career with several National Hockey League teams, the brothers both stay in shape, Anthony Battaglia said. That was a definite factor in their win; although, they did watch previous seasons of the show to see what other teams did right or wrong.

They also "got lucky a lot of times," Battaglia said, and relied on the smarts of country singers Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle, who the brothers had a flirtatious relationship with on the show. The singers came to Huntsville to sing the national anthem at one of the Havoc games, in fact.

"I scored a couple of goals that night, so that was nice," Battaglia said.

Battaglia did such a good job of keeping quiet during his time on the ice here, his fellow players were sure he didn't win, he said.

"They would say, 'You did not win or why would you come play minor (league) hockey and play for peanuts," Battaglia said.

He played, he said, because he loves the game and because he got a call from the coaches, Glenn Detulleo and Jordan Little, with whom he had played before.

"I think Huntsville is pretty incredible," Battaglia said. "There's such a great fan base for hockey there. It was a joy to play there, for them to appreciate hockey like they do. There were a lot of fans of the show, too, who came to see me play."

Battaglia is not sure if he'll be back in Huntsville for another season of hockey. He wants to apply for the Raleigh Fire Department the next time they're recruiting. And "there's a lot of stuff going on now, with the whole winning the 'Amazing Race.'"

He did get in some serious acting chops as he kept his winning secret over the last six months, after all.

"I'm such a good actor," Battaglia said, laughing. "Get me on TV. Totally get me in front of a camera."

Toronto Maple Leafs former player Bates Battaglia dishes on Amazing Race win, gives playoff adviceBattaglia, who won $1 million on the show Sunday, has some playoff advice for his former team.

Former Toronto Maple Leaf player Bates Battaglia had to wear his brother’s underwear after his knapsack got stolen on a train. But that didn’t stop the hockey-playing brothers from winning $1 million on the 22nd season of The Amazing Race.

“Serves them right; someone’s got a bag full of my dirty underwear,” says Bates, in an interview with the Star.

“On the other hand, I think we had to burn my underwear after Bates finished with them,” says younger brother Anthony, who plays professional hockey with the Huntsville Havoc.Photos View gallery

After nine countries and 48,000 kilometres, the Battaglia brothers from Raleigh, N.C., were victorious after swimming laps in a muddy bog in Ireland and solving clues from “secret agents” in the final leg in Washington.

Amazing Race has a loyal following in Canada, and it certainly didn’t hurt that many Canadians were rooting for the easy-going, hockey-playing brothers. It also didn’t hurt that they beat out the Machiavellian newlyweds Max and Katie Bichler at the finish line.

“Max and Katie seemed to be the villains on the show, but we actually got along with them great,” said Bates.

The brothers watched the finale from the bar they own in Raleigh with a group of fans and friends.

“It was crazy. They dumped champagne on our heads, and at the risk of being redundant, it was … amazing,” said Anthony, who has been compared to Prince William in the looks department — at least that’s what he claims.

Bates also had some playoff advice for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL team he played for from 2006 to 2008.

“They should win. I’m going to go out on a limb here. But I’m going to tell them to win,” said Bates with the typical humour that saw he and his brother slog through the ups and downs of the Emmy-award winning reality show.

(NOTE: Bates made that prediction before the Leafs took to the ice at the ACC Monday for Game 3 against Boston. The Leafs did not win. They in fact lost 5-2 in their first home playoff game in nine years.)

Humour served the brothers well in the season finale, where Bates never looked more frustrated as when Anthony failed to figure out which dishes to serve guests in Belfast at the boat yard where the RMS Titanic was built.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” said Anthony. “But in my defence, he didn’t know what a chartreuse-coloured desert looked like either and he still doesn’t know.”

Bates took a run at a Stanley Cup when he played for the Carolina Hurricanes. The team lost and even though he won The Amazing Race “nothing is the same as being in a Stanley Cup final,” he said.

As for playing in Toronto, Bates said it was “incredible. There’s no better place to play hockey. Ever.”

The Canadian version of the race, which premiers July 15, will stay rooted within our borders, and winners will get $250,000, not a million. But that’s still the biggest grand prize of any reality show in Canada.

The Bates brothers had some advice for the Canadian contestants: “Get a real map. Don’t make Bates make the maps” said Anthony.

“Slow down. Sometimes you’re in such a hurry you miss stuff that’s right in front of you,” said Bates.

Bates said he plans to spend his share of the million dollars wisely.

“Hey, I wasn’t making Mats Sundin kind of money,” said Bates, referring to the former Leafs captain. “But it’s going to a good cause. I’m going to use it to buy Anthony some teeth.”